He's been accused of murder and treason but escaped the Wardens. Now his own men are after him.

The only way to clear Morgan's name is to find the real traitor on the White Council and expose them. Of course, Harry isn't exactly on friendly terms with most of the council, so if he's not careful, he's just going to end up getting killed right along with Morgan.

[[{{Irony}} Have we mentioned how much he dislikes Morgan]]?

'''''Turn Coat''''' is book #11 in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Has its own [[ShoutOut/TurnCoat shout out]] page.

----!!''Turn Coat'' provides examples of the following tropes:

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When trying to say that he doesn't have much in terms of progress, Harry points to his head and says, [[ThatCameOutWrong "I've got nothing going on in here at the moment."]] Molly tries not to grin, and Morgan gives him a small smile and says "Too easy."* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Harry takes this route in order to try to desensitize himself to [[spoiler: Shagnasty's]] appearance to his Sight - he isolates himself and bombards his brain with the memories of every horrible, nasty thing he's ever Seen. By the end of it, he's feeling mentally drained and stained, but he's managed to keep his sanity.* AdvantageBall: Harry is smart with the climax and actually sought a place to give him a better chance of winning. [[spoiler:He choose the mysterious island from ''Small Favor'' and invoked Sanctum with it]].* AffablyEvil: Lara Raith describes herself as an "affable monster." Then she [[spoiler: eats her cousin alive. Literally]].* AllLoveIsUnrequited:** [[spoiler:Morgan has pined for Luccio for over two centuries. She never let it go beyond Teacher and Student.]]** Molly still pines for Harry.** Harry [[spoiler:loves Luccio but she doesn't love him, not for the reasons with Morgan, but her mind was twisted and was forced to "love" him.]]* AndThisIsFor: During the final confrontation with [[spoiler: the skinwalker]], Harry punctuates each spell by yelling the name of a friend or family member that the villain has hurt, and uses the emotion from that name to fuel his spells.* ApparentlyPowerlessPuppetmaster: [[spoiler:The Council's secretary with his mind-controlling inks]].%%* AppealToForce: Senior Wizard [=McCoy=] uses this when [[spoiler:Lara states she will go with Dresden and not him when dealing with Binder and likely Madeline. After his previous threat, he just grunts a word, grips his hand and she rises up ten feet in the air, unable to move. It is only Harry's insistence he will be fine does his mentor stop]].* TheArchmage:** Senior Council Listens-to-Winds [[spoiler:battles a Skinwalker to the point it must run away to save its life]].** Senior Council [=McCoy=] [[spoiler:nearly kills Lara Raith by simply clenching his hand and Lara was lifted up and suffered a "force choking"]].** The Merlin and The Gatekeeper.[[spoiler: The latter keeps back the mordite from assaulting the Senior Council while the former telepathically communicates with all in audience just what not to do if they wanted to live, complete with mental diagrams. All in the matter of a second]].* AsskickingEqualsAuthority[=/=]AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: To become one of the Senior Council, one must be an elder wizard respected by the others in the Council, considered one of the strongest of the current membership, and able to use that power wisely. See TheArchmage for what some can do.* BattleCouple: Will and Georgia double-team [[spoiler:Madeline Raith]] and do some serious harm [[spoiler:before accidentally drinking her blood takes them out of the fight]].* BattleInTheRain: Much of the big battle near the end happens in the rain.* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Madeline makes the mistake of describing her intention of "deprotecting" and eating Justine in front of Thomas, who responds with giving her [[CurbStompBattle a smackdown]] and then giving Madeline a "taste", inviting Justine to run her hair along his cousin's body. As Madeline's Hunger can't help but try to feed upon contact, Justine's love-protection burns the hell out of her.* BenevolentConspiracy: [[spoiler: Merlin's refusal to acknowledge the existence of the Black Council means that Ebenezar has to form the Grey Council in secret to investigate and combat the Black.]]* BerserkButton: ** Luccio ''hates'' being called by the name "Stacy." Her name is ''Anastasia''. Harry purposefully presses it to make sure she is her and not a shapeshifter.** Morgan quickly and effectively finds these for Molly, insulting Harry being a big one, for the purpose of seeing how she would react when pressed. Harry later calls her out for falling for such prodding and not ignoring the taunts.** Morgan has one pressed at the thought of Black Magic being used in any way to help show his innocence.** Madeline does not take Harry's comment -that Lara does more to arouse him just sitting in a chair than Madeline did in her whole entrance and influence she pushed on Harry- well. It nearly drives her to physically attack him for the insult.** Thomas hates those who threaten Justine.** Listens-To-Wind enters into TranquilFury when Harry asks how right can they be if Morgan is sacrificed for the greater good because [[spoiler:the shaman had to refrain from helping when white settlers attacked a tribe he was supposed to protect because Council laws forbade him from interfering]]. He believes [[spoiler:he chose who lived and died that day and will not bring up the similar situation if protecting Morgan causes a civil war]].* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The mole is dead and his brainwashed victims are found and on the long road to recovery, but the White Council lost not only Morgan but Senior Council member [=LaFortier=] by the mole's machinations. His replacement is suspected by Harry to be a new mole working for the Black Council. On top of that, it becomes apparent that Luccio's relationship with Harry was a consequence of her brainwashing in an effort to keep an eye on him. To make matters even worse, the White Council, which is already suffering a critical shortage of manpower, thanks to the ongoing war with the Red Court, lost several more wizards during Peabody's attack at the trial. And Thomas appears to be broken by some extreme torture methods and is leaning towards evil now.]]* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: In a variant, Vince remarks that ''"accomplice"'' is an ugly word. As is "penitentiary".* BookEnds: A subtle one, but the book begins with Harry saying, "I know what it feels like to have the Wardens on your ass for something you haven't done." The book ends [[spoiler: with Morgan's dying words being, "I knew that you knew how it felt to be an innocent man hounded by the Wardens."]]* BoringButPractical: The art of making circles and empowering them is one of the first lessons apprentice Wizards learn. It is a rather simple act but very efficient when dealing with a warlock who likes to summon creatures from Nevernever as cutting off the creature from surrounding energy sources banishes it.** Even [[spoiler:Shagnasty]] gets in on the action, using a circle to [[spoiler:cut off the spell that Harry's using to strangle it.]]* {{Brainwashed}}:** Harry notes this as a possible reason why Morgan would have killed [[spoiler:Senior Council member [=LaFortier=]]], but [=McCoy=] claims it wouldn't be possible; Morgan being over a hundred years old means direct brainwashing is as impossible as bending an ancient willow tree. Of course, this didn't stop [[spoiler:Peabody from subtly influencing members of the senior council by highlighting certain aspects of their personalities so they might do things they normally wouldn't]].** [[spoiler:Anastasia's much younger physical body (courtesy of [[GrandTheftMe the Corpsetaker]]) allowed Peabody to control her, as well as most of the wardens--younger wizards recruited after the events of ''Literature/DeadBeat'').]] See ManchurianAgent below.** [[spoiler:Peabody]] is revealed to have made extensive use of this.* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler: Thomas Raith]]. He gets tortured physically, [[spoiler: fed a bunch of women]] and tortured again. By the time Harry sees him again, he is in rotten shape and [[spoiler:nearly rapes Molly to death]].* BringIt: Harry says as much when he tells [[spoiler:the Senior Council if they wish to try taking Morgan from him, he will gladly take them on]].* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: Literally for the first part of it. [[spoiler:Listens-to-Wind drives off the Skinwalker, but comes away from the fight with a broken arm]].* BrownNote: Merely seeing the spiritual form of the skinwalker is enough to incapacitate Harry for a few hours. He adjusts to it, but since visions granted by second sight are never forgotten, it has left him permanently scarred.* BrutalHonesty: After Morgan wakes up in Harry's bed with his wounds bandaged and takes some water Harry offers, he begins to give Harry thanks when Harry cuts him off, doubting either of them could stand any such exchange when it is only happening out of basic hospitality. Harry would much rather they both be just plainly honest on the matter. Morgan says nothing but looked relieved.* TheButlerDidIt: [[spoiler:The traitor in the White Council was not the Merlin, Ancient Mai, Listens-To-Wind or even Ebenezer. It was the ''secretary'', clerk and all-around paper-pusher -- in other words, the perfect guy to subvert, because he has access to all the information and can just fade into the background]].* CallBack: Harry learned in ''Literature/WhiteNight'' that it's a bad idea to call forth a light when a supernatural creature plunges an area in darkness.** When Harry and Morgan are in discussion about Molly's training, Harry asks if Morgan was taught shield spells early on. Morgan said yes, his teacher threw stones at him until he got it right, since pain is a good motivator and that kind of training helps with emotional control. Harry just grunts. It's a double callback -- in ''Literature/SmallFavor'', we learned that Dumorne taught Harry using baseballs, and in that same book we see Harry teaching Molly with snowballs.* CasualHighDrop: Lara Raith and her White Court companions disembark from a helicopter onto the island, without bothering to rappel down ropes.* TheCavalry: Harry ends up on the benefit of this twice.** First, he is saved [[spoiler:from the Skinwalker for a few minutes when Toot-toot takes on the Abomination]].** Soon after, the Cavalry's cavalry arrives when [[spoiler:Toot is knocked down, Listens-to-Winds arrives and beats the Skinwalker into running]].* ChairmanOfTheBrawl: Thomas uses a steel chair to [[spoiler:bash Madeline into the ground at Club 0]].* ChekhovsGun: ** As it turns out, Morgan's Javierian attitudes towards Harry have become this. Any evidence the Merlin finds to prove his man's innocence would be seen as suspect, but with how Morgan hounded Harry, any evidence showing Morgan's innocence would be as good as a sign from God. [[spoiler:Just before Harry gives his testimony at the trial, the Merlin makes it a point to remind everyone of Harry's relationship with Morgan]].** The boon Morgan earned from Summer back in ''Literature/ProvenGuilty'' gets cashed in--he asks to be concealed from the White Council's attempts to magically locate him for a couple days.** When Harry went to Edinburgh the first time, he sees [[spoiler:several Senior Council members with ink stained fingers from all the documents Peabody has them sign]].** On that same trip, he meets some spider fae. [[spoiler:They were sent there by the traitor to keep watch over the way and cause trouble]].** In the end, [=McCoy=] [[spoiler:writes in his diary about Demonreach's true purpose is something Harry doesn't know and how the Merlin is responding to Harry's connection to the island]].** [=McCoy=] [[spoiler:in the same diary entry brings up once more his deep feelings of trust in Maggie and her choice to go against him still hurting]].** [[spoiler:Wizard Rashid, who can see into the future]] tells Harry he will stop him from [[spoiler:fighting the Senior Council now because it is not his time die, which he certainly will if he goes through with it. However, his new connection to the island changes Rashid's vision]].** For this book only, Butters warns Harry not to let Morgan try to walk because his femoral artery was nicked and needs time to heal so it doesn't rupture. [[spoiler: Morgan dies of blood loss after ''running'' down the corridors at Edinburgh chasing the traitor.]]** It is mentioned that Harry's been suffering from headaches for a while now. * ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Harry notes that the problem with a group like the Black Council is most of them are power-hungry self-serving bastards. They will surely betray their old allies to make good in the Black Council but at the same time will pull a ScrewThisImOutOfHere and betray the Black Council if the winds are changing and helping Harry or other good guys will net them a better future. [[spoiler:So, part of Harry's plot to draw out the traitor is making the traitor think there is one in the group willing to spill and since this is the traitor's mess to begin with, he will be punished if he cannot get things under control]].* CivilWar:** If the Mole's plan is successful, this is one of the most likely results because the Merlin's right hand man killed the one Senior Council member who cared about the African, Asian, and South American 3rd world country wizards. Those from those nations would respond with suspicion and anger, fracturing the council.** Senior Council Ancient Mai [[spoiler:wants to avert the appearance of one once Lara Raith appears on the Island, and so halts her current issues with Harry Dresden's plot]].* ClarkesThirdLaw: Harry is caught in the rain and is glad that the armor spells he put onto his [[BadassLongcoat leather duster]] also made it stain- and waterproof. He also notes that, despite being so tough and powerful, it still breathes and allows a good flow of oxygen, something not even the best coats manufactured by the best technology can accomplish. Afterwards, he smugly thinks about how magic has accomplished something that technology will probably never be able to equal.-->''Sufficiently advanced, my ass.''* ColdBloodedTorture: ** The Victim under BreakTheCutie. [[spoiler:Shagnasty kidnapped him, then proceeded to tear off strips of skin over and over, straining his vampire HealingFactor to its limit. Then he fed him someone and started the whole thing over again. ''Six times.'' The point was to get him to give up on his attempts at being a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire.]]** More a case of ''hot''-blooded torture, but [[spoiler: it certainly wasn't necessary for Lara to meticulously disembowel Madeline alive while feeding on her. She just wanted her cousin's death to be agonizing ''as well as'' ecstatic.]]** Thomas and Justine to Madeline. [[ItMakesSenseInContext Crucified with chopsticks, brushed down with burning hair, and branded with a kiss on the forehead.]]* CombatPragmatist: ** In the past, Morgan was up against a Skinwalker. Not only are the monsters insanely tough in general, they consume magic making them that much harder to vanquish back to their domains. Lacking the knowledge of the proper Native American tribes to call on the proper ritual, Morgan lured it to an area that was about to be a test spot for an A-bomb. He just stepped through to Nevernever before it hit.** Binder knows he could not handle Harry in a straight-up duel. [[spoiler:So if he found Harry stashed Morgan inside his home, Binder would just toss a fire bomb to force Dresden and Morgan out and then kill them]].** Luccio notes planting bombs or anti-personal mines are some of the best ways to handle practitioner from a distance.* ConcussionFrags: Pointedly averted in the climactic fight. Harry himself notes the difference between them, and realizes that Binder uses the less common concussion grenades in lieu of frags. Binder anticipated a wizard's means of protection against kinetic projectiles (such as shrapnel), but an explosive blastwave is much harder to protect against since pressure and heat are harder to shield against and the explosion could reach an unprotected area of the body with relative ease. Harry's respect for Binder's capacity for mayhem went up a few notches at that.* ConsummateLiar[=/=]TheFool: [[spoiler:Wizard Rashid, the Gatekeeper]] takes a few moments to consider which of these Harry is when noting not only all the dangerous and crazy things that have happened in the past ten years, like the Shadowman, FBI with werewolf belts, an unbalanced Aurora, but in some of the most serious ones, Harry was directly involved, like Aurora, working closely with White Court vampires to stop coups, the rumor that two of the world most powerful swords are in the custody of a wizard who doesn't have much in the matter of faith. So either Harry was behind them and is lying about his good intentions now or he really is that unlucky. Harry, being Harry, just points to his heavily bandaged head and says, "Dude." This invokes some hearty laughter, and the conclusion that yes, Harry ''is'' that unlucky.* CoolCar: Lara Raith's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Silver_Wraith Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith]] leads to a few expressions of pure awe. The power of this car is such that it alone gives Harry hope. As he finds out that [[spoiler:his harboring of Morgan has been tipped off to the Wardens]], another character points out that this car is ''far too cool'' for Harry to die in. Murphy agrees.* CouldSayItBut: Vince Graver [[spoiler:refuses to tell Harry about his clients]]. When Molly goes at him with [[IHaveBoobsYouMustObey a tight shirt with no bra on]], Vince is "kind enough" to offer her some job-hunting advice, specifically [[spoiler:the suggestion of being a paralegal at the firm who hired him and gives her the card his boss gave him]].* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Harry realizes [[spoiler:the group from the Senior Council thinks he is this with all the big name forces he has taken down or survived fighting against. Things that few others would have survived just one of these and Harry came out on top on each one, such as killing a Fae Queen, ''twice'' fought Nicodemus and lived, and the whole matter of riding a dinosaur to beat up some necromancers. Hence the multiple Wardens as back up to the Senior Council as they don't want to take any chances when dealing with ''Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden'']].* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:[=McCoy=] makes it clear as day to Lara Raith he could kill her with little effort and she couldn't stop him]].* CycleOfRevenge[=/=]FeudingFamilies: Luccio notes that one of the things the White Council does is nip these disasters in the bud. But if not for the strict adherence to the Laws of Magic, both could cause massive devastation to the world, and that isn't factoring in the fact wizards can live for centuries and have magic. Muggle versions of these are dangerous and destructive enough.* DavidVersusGoliath: [[spoiler:Toot-Toot. As a tiny fairy, he doesn't have anywhere near the level of power as the skinwalker, but with his trusty box cutter, he successfully makes the ancient evil knows pain until help can arrive to save him and Harry]].* ADeathInTheLimelight: [[spoiler: Morgan gets much more characterization than simply Harry's obstructive parole officer showing his KnightInSourArmor personality through working with Harry. So of course, he dies at the end of the book.]]* DefeatMeansFriendship: [[spoiler:To gain an edge in his final battle plan, Harry plans on making a contract with an EldritchLocation. The challenge presented to Harry once he got the island's attention was a blow-for-blow elemental "punching match", so fire against fire with a little dash of Soulfire boosting Harry's attacks]].---> '''Harry:''' I punched it in the nose. Now we're friends.* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:Harry isn't sure how defiant he looked with only one visible eye, but he certainly tried to be as the Skinwalker tried to scare him with what he did to Thomas and how Molly was likely to be killed by Thomas. Harry just stared and planned on using his Death Curse to hurt the bastard]].* {{Deprogram}}: Though the ways done aren't seen, [[spoiler:those who became {{Manchurian Agent}}s go though this at the end of the book with the help of the Merlin, Rashid, and Listens-to-Wind.]]* DidntSeeThatComing: ** Vince Graver is something Harry didn't expect: a man of principles. So while he will stop working for a client who is doing something illegal or dangerous, he won't betray them, because he isn't an informer. When this situation is told to Morgan, the old man nods with a measure of approval and says that this is a "[p]retty rare problem."** When Harry and Luccio are discussing [[spoiler:Thomas Raith and Harry covertly hints Thomas is his brother]], Luccio angrily hisses, "Margaret. You selfish bitch." ** The young apprentice working the phones for the White Council nearly fainted from shock and horror when [[spoiler:Harry recited his message to her]].** The Gatekeeper [[spoiler:didn't foresee Harry making a pact with Demonreach]].** Ancient Mai didn't see [[spoiler:[=McCoy=] keeping out of trying to forcibly arrest Dresden]], or Harry having [[spoiler: an honest-to-Buddha Foo dog]] vouch for his evidence. ** [[spoiler:The Skinwalker did not expect to face Harry whipping out Soulfire against him, being connected to Demonreach so his veils were useless (when he was on the ground), Toot-toot slicing up his back with a box knife, and lastly Listens-to-Winds being able to fight it into retreating]].** The traitor didn't foresee [[spoiler: Harry using Mouse and a mundane investigator to watch the Way to Chicago]].* DissonantSerenity: After the BrownNote of seeing the Skinwalker with a wizard's Sight, Harry's narration gives a calm, if slightly incognizant blow-by-blow of the result. It takes him a few paragraphs to realize he's undergoing a FreakOut.* ElementalPowers: [[spoiler:Demonreach, as part of his challenge for Harry to prove himself,]] puts Harry in a dual of these. [[spoiler:Harry adds [[HolyHandGrenade Soulfire]] to each of his attacks as a means of proving himself]].** BlowYouAway: The first attack by the challenged. Harry endured the wind. [[spoiler:Harry blasts back with his own Wind but only blew Demonreach's cloak back]].** DishingOutDirt: The second attack by the challenged. Harry felt the earth crack beneath him and earth splinters shoot him in the legs and back. Thankfully, no GroinAttack. [[spoiler:Harry literally drops the earth under Demonreach's manifestation in a sinkhole. It continued to maintain its place in midair]].** PlayingWithFire: A lance of flame shot at Harry. [[spoiler:Harry drew water from the island and protected himself. Then he blasted Demonreach with fire before the spirit could act. Harry moved it back a half-an-inch]].* DoctorsOrders: Butters is called in to stitch up Morgan at the beginning. While Morgan doesn't see him, he hears Butter's orders by proxy with Harry and Mouse puts his heavy head on Morgan to make sure he kept down.* EnemyMine:** While at Lara's house, [[spoiler:Lara teams up with Harry and Luccio to fight the attacking Shagnasty.]]** [[spoiler:While it started off as a MexicanStandoff, Harry planned for this to be the result between himself and friends, Lara Raith's forces, and the arriving Senior Council and the Wardens to fight against Shagnasty and its allies.]] It works.* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:No one in the Senior Council ever suspected Secretary Peabody as the mole and the damage he had done to the Council before he was found out.]]* EvenEvilHasStandards:** Harry knows Lara is a treacherous bitch. But when she gives her word she will keep it. Granted, she might look for a loophole and will use the situation to advance her position as much she can, but she will keep her word.** Within the White Court, there are rules and protocols against poaching another vampire's meal. [[spoiler:Madeline thrusting herself on Justine and telling her how she would bring in a guy for Justine to sleep with just so Madeline could take her was more than enough justification for Thomas to break a metal chair on Madeline]].* EvilDetectingDog: Or raccoon. One of the ways Listens-to-Winds gets a read on people is how his animals, like Little Brother from ''Summer Knight'' takes to people. Apparently, he liked Harry.* ExactWords: ** Mab promised Wizards could use her territory to move about on. She never said they would go without being accosted. So, if some fae was on the path at the same time, friendly behavior was not always to be expected.** [[spoiler:Titania agreed to cloak Morgan himself from being tracked by magical means. The Silver Oak leaf from the Summer Court he wears was not covered]].** [=McCoy=] tells Mai and Listens-to-Winds he is assisting them [[spoiler:by telling them to not try and forcibly arrest Harry because he knows the type of man Harry is and sees such an action as a dangerous one. Hence him not helping detain Harry]].* ExpositionBeam: The Merlin manages to telepathically communicate an entire defensive plan (with images) to the White Council in a fraction of a second.* FailedASpotCheck: When interrogating Binder, a decent-level practitioner, Harry pulls a few of his hairs. [[spoiler:Binder knows this can be used to track him, so he goes through several rituals to keep Harry from using magic. Confident on blocking this, he didn't think Harry had outsourced to have the normal human PI Vince Graver track him via non-magical means]].* FamedInStory: Harry, especially apparent here. His exploits from ''Summer Knight'', ''Death Masks'', ''Dead Beat'', ''Proven Guilty'', ''White Night'', and ''Small Favor'' were each reported to the Council by either Harry or another person. Half of these things seemed like impossible things to accomplish but Harry survived and even beat some of these ancient powerhouses he faced back.* FeedTheMole: [[spoiler:Harry calls the Council switchboard to send up a long message about his plot to expose the traitor, prove Morgan's innocence, and all because of an informant. This entire line is a lie meant to draw out the traitor into acting quickly and without a full plan]].* FightingFromTheInside: [[spoiler:Harry realizes the reason Luccio didn't kill [=LaFortier=] with magic because on some level, she knew it was wrong and fought the order to kill. Unfortunately, she couldn't stop herself from stabbing him with a mundane blade]].* FightOffTheKryptonite: After a brief fight, Justine's hair was loose and touched Thomas. Thomas never flinched despite the light scarring her love was giving him.* {{Fingore}}: Shagnasty bites off a few fingers of one of Lara Raith's sisters.* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: The White Court wants people to think they are this but subvert it. They pretend to be this because they dislike physical fighting and, as Lara said in ''White Night'', she is more than willing to defeat the Council through peace and pleasantries. The darker aspects of them are shown with Club Zero, a White Court run club that has no limits on whatever fetishes or drugs its patrons do so long as one is pleasured, and Lara and her sisters [[spoiler:would recover by feeding on three loyal men who risked their lives to protect House Raith and were gravely injured but could survive with modern medical care]]. They are like a rose whose thorns are laced with arsenic or Ricin: Truly beautiful and alluring but deadly if mishandled.* FogOfWar: Discussed by Murphy. She, after years of work as a cop, guesses that the bad guys framing Morgan aren't Xantos-tier planners, but just as fallible and ignorant of what Harry and Murphy know as much as Murphy and Harry know about them. So, they can use this confusion to their advantage by forcing them to slip up and show some more cards.* {{Foreshadowing}}: ** While it is the summer months, the book starts off with a blistering heatwave over Chicago. [[spoiler:Considering how Mab was shielding Harry with a snowstorm, this heatwave is likely Titania helping Morgan block any tracking spells]].** [[spoiler:Molly's concerns about Luccio being tainted and the fact she didn't truly love Harry are small hints to her not being what she seems.]]* ForTheEvulz: A good chunk of a Skinwalker's actions will be this. One reason the Native American tribes of the South West United States of America do not like speaking of them is not only could it make the monsters stronger, the "outsider" asking questions about them could be a skinwalker screwing with the tribesmen.* GambitPileup: ''Engineered'' by Harry, in order to give the bad guy no room at all to think, or come up with a backup plan. [[spoiler:And this whole pileup was the bait for another trap Harry set.]]-->'''Harry''': [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Wile E. Coyote.]] Suuuuuper genius.* GeniusBonus: Nature-savvy readers will appreciate that [[spoiler: all the animal-forms assumed by the naagloshii and Listens-To-Winds are indigenous to North America. Some like the bear or coyote are obvious, but the black-footed ferret, flying squirrel, and alligator are nice touches.]]* GeniusLoci: Demonreach, the island the Denarians used in ''Small Favor''.* GenreBlind: ** [[spoiler: Lara does not suspect Justine being a mole giving Harry and Thomas information]].** [[spoiler:Peabody forgot he was working against the pragmatist Harry Dresden. As a result, he never considered Harry could use the mortal world against him by hiring a muggle PI to watch the Chicago-Edinburgh Way]].* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler:Peabody]] shows his savvy when [[spoiler:Harry rises to give testimony at Morgan's trial]] by pulling out his trump card, to play at a moment's notice. The Gatekeeper even notes [[spoiler:if he could guess Harry's trap, so could Peabody. The Gatekeeper was right]].** Harry, having learned from the events of ''Literature/SmallFavor'', chucks the oak leaf representing the Summer Court's boon to Morgan at the first opportunity so that it can't be used to track him.* GetItOverWith: Harry pulls this on the skin-walker by forcing himself to remember its horrible true form mixed in with all the other powerful forces he had Seen, such as other evil forces or [[PhysicalGod the True Forms of Titania and Mab]]. By doing this, Harry can stand and face it, shocking it.* GoodHurtsEvil: Against the Skinwalker, only the strongest Goods apply against this things powerful defenses.** To banish it, the only known ways with magic the rituals known to the shaman of tribes from the Southwestern United States, such as the Navajo or Ute tribes, [[spoiler:using Soulfire, the Fires of Creation, against it.]] ** To just send it away with the tail between the legs, [[spoiler:Senior Council Joseph Listens-to-Wind knows more than enough magic to do this]].* GreenEyedMonster: Madeline, of the White Court, hated Harry's rebuke of her.* HandicappedBadass: Morgan. Having just escaped from the Wardens, Morgan is heavily wounded and gets an impromptu surgery within the first few chapters of the book. He spends the rest of it bedridden or bound to a wheelchair, heavily medicated, and running a fever from infection. Granted in that the plot takes place over the course of three days or so, so Morgan doesn't exactly have considerable time to recover from his wounds.* HeKnowsTooMuch: Harry warns Karrin if he does die, to be careful as the Council as a whole would not like learning a vanilla mortal like her knows so much about them and the supernatural world. What they might do, without violating the Laws of Magic, isn't known. * HeroicBSOD: After seeing an EldritchAbomination Harry crashed his car, passed out repeatedly, and got a bad [[PsychicNosebleed nosebleed]] while forcing himself to face it until it stopped causing him intolerable psychic pain.* HeroicSacrifice: A small, background one, but [[spoiler: when Peabody had his mist fiend attacking spectators at Morgan's trial, one woman was saved from being killed when a man pushed her out of the way after she summoned light and painted a target on herself. The woman was saved, but the man was [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe cut in half]]]]. * HoistByHisOwnPetard: Had [[spoiler:Peabody not been scared about Luccio being the leak and breaking free of his control, he wouldn't have used the Chicago Way to visit her. Had he not visited her, he wouldn't have been caught on camera. His going to check out his puppet lead to his reveal as a puppet master]].* HopeSpot: At [[spoiler:Morgan's trial, it looks like just for one moment Peabody will be caught. Then he reveals his trump card and is killed while trying to escape, making it impossible for him to testify and exonerate Morgan's name.]]* HorrorHunger: Happens to [[spoiler:Thomas,]] which leads to him [[spoiler:killing several women fed to him by Shagnasty, then nearly raping Molly to death as well. Only quick thinking and Harry's protection spell kept her safe.]]* HostageForMacGuffin: The Skinwalker will give [[spoiler:Thomas Raith]] back if someone delivers it Donald Morgan.* HostageSituation:** Harry finds himself one when [[spoiler:faced with the Skinwalker holding Thomas on Demonreach. He had to get his brother away from the evil force before trying to fight the Skinwalker]].** Later Joseph Listens-to-Wind uses fear of this to [[spoiler:explain him not pursuing the injured Skinwalker back to the Southwest United States as the ancient evil would attack normal people or use them as hostages to save itself]].* IAmWhatIAm:** After [[spoiler:the Skinwalker attacked her home]] Lara cites this trope to explain that she is a vampire at heart, and that includes [[spoiler:killing three men, one who had his eyes removed and the other two with broken backs, to insure she and her sisters are healed]].** Upon seeing what Lara plans to do in the above example, Harry cites this trope as well and states one day he will take Lara down as well. Not a threat but a fact.* IdiotBall:** Morgan holds it and lampshades it by asking if he's gone senile as [[spoiler:it didn't occur to him the Silver Oak leaf of the Summer Court he used to be protected from tracking could itself be used to track him, and Titania not having broken her word to keep him shielded from other tracking methods]].** Twice [=McCoy=] calls Harry on holding it. First [[spoiler:because Harry's questions weren't too subtle on keeping the fact Harry knows Morgan's location or approximate location a secret]]. Then [[spoiler:after the battle on Demonreach, when Harry chose to save the vampire Thomas and not seeking to stop the traitor]].** Harry didn't realize until Molly found Morgan, if Morgan went down and took Harry with him, Molly would soon follow.** Molly subtly calls Harry and Morgan on holding it by having a shouting match over [[spoiler:Thomas possibly revealing the location of Harry's hidden place]] in the middle of Nevernever and close to the path.* IHaveBoobsYouMustObey: Molly uses this to great effect to get information out of the PI shadowing Harry. Morgan jumps to the conclusion that she's going to use mind-control magic. All Molly has to do is take off her bra and go talk to the guy in his very air-conditioned car. As Harry observes, "He didn't stand a chance." Morgan agrees and hints it would certainly get a rise out of him.* IHaveYourWife: Morgan is asked if this trope is in application as a reason for him [[spoiler:killing [=LaFortier=]]]. Morgan denies it and states he ''avoided'' starting a family for this reason.* InspectorJavert: Harry describes his relationship with Morgan to Butters as such. Butters has trouble with Harry helping a man who has tried to kill him several times, but Harry replied, Morgan might have been an ass but honestly felt it was the morally right thing to do.* IShallTauntYou: Wizard ''Samuel'' Peabody does not like it when Harry addresses him as "Simon" and then "Sam".* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: [[spoiler: Morgan]], although in this case the Masquerade was that [[spoiler:the White Council is strong and united and there is no Black Council rather than the supernatural does not exist]].* KillItWithFire: Harry notes that besides the illumination, many combat mages, like Wardens, use fire magic because most every baddie is either hurt by it or has a healthy respect of it. It also has the added bonus of being able to destroy dark magic when used with that intent. Some wardens using fire spells in the book include one who shoots star-like balls that burn through enemies, trees, and rocks all the same. Another uses napalm-like blasts.* KillItWithWater: [[spoiler:Senior Council Listens-To-Winds summons a rainstorm to pour onto the Skinwalker's magical attacks, destroying them before they even reach him]].* KnowWhenToFoldEm:** [[spoiler:When Vince Graver finds his car really messed with and then Harry saying people could die because of Vince's snooping, the man walks away from his job of trailing Harry]].** [[spoiler:Dying and having killed the Traitor, Morgan allows himself to be slandered to save the Council, and more importantly, Luccio who was the real killer, doing do because she was controlled by the Traitor]].* TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: In previous books, [[spoiler: Wizard Peabody]] had two, maybe three lines of dialogue, tops, and little to no description regarding appearance or occupation. So, particularly GenreSavvy readers would point fingers ''immediately''.** [[spoiler: Really, ''really'' alert readers might even pick up on all the references to ink-stained fingers, and guess how he's operating.]]* LonelyFuneral: [[spoiler:Morgan's, because even though he had been a hero to the White Council almost all his life, he died framed for political reasons.]]* LoopholeAbuse:** Harry notes that the practitioner Binder knows the Seven Laws of Magic very well and while he is known for dancing very close to violating one of the Laws, it hasn't been proven he really violated them.** [[spoiler:Margaret La Fey Dresden, Harry's mother,]] was also a bane to the Wardens for rebelling against the ancient ways of the White Council by arguing for a "gray" area to the BlackAndWhiteMorality the Council had for enforcing the laws. The rebelling was done by going extremely close to violating the Laws but never fully cross it.** Harry throws away [[spoiler:Morgan's oak-leaf pin, fearing Titania may indulge in this trope and allow Morgan's pursuers to track down the ''pin'' rather than him. Morgan wonders if he's gone senile for not considering that before]].* LuredIntoATrap:** Morgan noted when destroying his Skinwalker problem back in the fifties, he lured it into the testing area of a nuclear bomb. The nuclear weapon won.** [[spoiler:Harry's plan to catch the traitor was to lure him into a confrontation, moving past a place he had Vince Graver stationed and taking photos. The whole challenge was just the bait for this action]].* MagicalGesture: Ebenezer [=McCoy=] shows his power by simply clenching his fist and [[spoiler:"force choking" Lara Raith.]]* MakeTheDogTestify: Helps that Mouse is a sentient magic dog. [[spoiler:To expand, Mouse doesn't speak but identifies Peabody by scent. His credentials as a temple dog are affirmed by Ancient Mai and several other Council Wizards when Peabody objects.]]* MaliciousSlander: What happened to Morgan. Also, Rashid points out that a ''lot'' of Harry's past actions could be taken as hostile to the White Council by those who harbor suspicions toward him.* ManchurianAgent: [[spoiler:Wizard Peabody's]] influence. A few more, [[spoiler:Luccio included,]] were referred to as "suicide bombers" as they would do the task and then get caught on purpose.* ManipulativeBitch: Lara Raith. Harry even invokes this when she briefly considers [[spoiler:either giving into the Skinwalker's demands, after it beat her in her own home, or letting Thomas die, who was now a hero for his help against the coup in ''White Night''. Harry points out either way, in the eyes of her kind, she is weak.]] Harry thinks she should string [[spoiler:the Skinwalker]] along and then stab him in the back to get everything for herself, in true White Court fashion. * MeaningfulFuneral: [[spoiler:Specifically denied. To keep up the ruse the they believed Morgan was working up with Peabody, the Senior Council cannot have anything significant in Morgan's name. There is instead a small, private remembrance for the man.]]* MercyKill: [[spoiler:Wizard Rashid considers killing Harry before he can challenge the Senior Council this because of what Harry [[DealWithTheDevil did to make sure he had a strong fighting chance to win against the Council and other enemies]]]].* MexicanStandoff: [[spoiler:The Senior Council, Lara Raith and her sisters, and Harry are in one until two bigger fish arrive to make them join forces.]] As Harry was hoping.* MindRape: [[spoiler:Madeline Raith]] is revealed to have done this to [[spoiler:Evelyn Derek to keep her from talking about hiring Vince to trail Harry]].* MinorInjuryOverreaction: Harry realizes that [[spoiler:Mouse isn't as badly hurt from being shot by Morgan as it seems, but was instead overplaying his pain to make sure Molly realizes how foolish she was being.]]* ModestyTowel: Well, a blanket used by Lara [[spoiler:after losing her clothes from a bomb and then ravishing her cousin]] appears in one.* MonstrousCannibalism: ** Harry kills one of the fae spiders to make the others back off, and notices the rest of them hungrily collecting its remains.** [[spoiler: Lara gruesomely devours her cousin Madeline's life force, and Ebenezar lampshades how sick it is that the White Court does such things]].* MsFanservice:** Lara appears once more.** Madeline Raith, Lara's cousin, veers into the Shameless kind because not only does she know she is seductive as hell, she lives and breathes this. See VillainousGlutton below.** Molly Carpenter knows how to be this. See IHaveBoobsYouMustObey.* MuggingTheMonster: When Harry is on his way to Edinburgh, he is stopped by some spider fae the size of ponies. They laugh at the thought of him being on speaking terms with Mab and when one attacks, Harry sends it into a tree, nearly killing it. The rest of the horde let him pass without further incident there and on the way back.* MundaneSolution: Harry has Murphy take some hairs from Binder for a tracking spell, fully aware that he'll recognize her theft and wipe the spell. [[spoiler: He's just making it easier for a mundane PI he hired to tail him.]]* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Wizard Listens-to-Wind looks at his ink-stained hands upon learning his mind was being altered by Peabody's magical ink. He and the rest of the Senior Council later go over all of their choices the past few years, wondering what choices this influence could have pushed them towards they wouldn't have done otherwise]].* NecessaryEvil: Harry has come to see the "kill warlocks while they're young" idea of the Wardens and Council as this. It might not be pretty but more often than not the victim has a body count and has little chance of coming back after being corrupted by such dark magic.* NervesOfSteel: Morgan. As the man has fought so many dark agents, it takes a lot to get under his skin (short of Harry). So when he is egging Molly, he is completely composed and shoots deep hitting jabs at Molly to see her reaction. [[spoiler:Even when the golf club came swinging down, he didn't react at all]].* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler:The Black Council's plan for Morgan. Once they found and killed him, they would stash the body and so all crimes they commit with magic can be blamed on him, ensuring they stay in the shadows.]]* NeverMessWithGranny: Ancient Mai is ''old'' even by wizarding standards. She scares the daylights out of Harry because not only is she powerful but smart as she quickly deduced [[[spoiler:the reason Harry called the meeting so quickly and wanted to meet was the counter-measures Morgan has blocking him from being tracked are going to fail soon]]. One of the strike team of veteran Wardens who had survived the horrors of the war with the vampires and meant to take down Morgan when he was found held her umbrella in a rain storm.* NiceJobBreakingItHero: ** The Ute tribes and others who know of Skinwalkers and know the rituals to banish the unholy creature seek to avert this by not speaking of the creature as it would inspire fear in most and that just increases the strength of the skinwalker. Further, there is always a chance the thing asking about the skinwalker is one and chose to screw around with people of the tribe** The Skinwalker thanks Harry [[spoiler:for launching Thomas into the cabin on Demonreach, The island's powerful wards prevented it from approaching the cabin where Molly and Morgan lay, but now Harry has delivered a starving, partially insane Thomas -- who will feed on the first woman he sees -- to a young woman. Only Harry's foresight to give Molly a powerful shield crystal saved her from Thomas]].* NoSell: Justine is still protected by Thomas and her acts of mutual love in ''Blood Rites'' from White Court feeding and manipulations. Lara finds this a useful quality to have in her personal secretary.* TheNondescript: Vince Graver, a P.I. hired by someone to watch Harry [[spoiler: and then by Harry to watch Binder and to photograph anyone using the Chicago/Edinburgh Way]].* NotBrainwashed: At the end [[spoiler:after Thomas' BreakTheCutie, Lara permits Harry to meet Thomas to assure the mortal wizard Thomas is not brainwashed. Broken? yes. A good White Court vampire? Most probably. But not technically brainwashed.]]* NotHerself: [[spoiler:Luccio. Those who knew the powerful Captain of the Wardens before being forced into the younger body would have known something was wrong with her if they learned she was having mindless sex with Harry. Harry notes another problem with spotting something wrong is people look for a person to be ''worse off''. Luccio was happier after sleeping with Harry and in a world of so much pain and suffering, those who should have paid more attention weren't going to step on her happier attitude without good cause]].* NotHyperbole: When Harry tells [[spoiler:Lara Raith that her cousin Madeline is a traitor to the White Court and is setting Lara up to take the fall, Lara whispers in a controlled rage that she will rip out Madeline's intestines with her bare hands. She does this exact thing ''while feeding'' on her cousin.]]* NotSoDifferent: When discussing the idea of Wizards helping in mortal affairs, like World War II and the fact they didn't, one of Luccio's counters is by Harry's argument, that there was a clear evil side and thus the Council should have helped, then the Council should attack the United States for their crimes against the Native Americans.* NuclearOption: Warden Morgan is known to have once killed a skinwalker (a powerful Native American EldritchAbomination) by luring it to a location that would shortly be used as A-bomb testing site. Can it be called a CrowningMomentOfAwesome?* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Wizard Peabody insists on Harry signing out some papers, as with anyone who takes some of his files. [[spoiler:It turns out he was trying to be]].* OffWithHisHead:** As the standard punishment for crimes against the White Council and its Laws, Morgan is facing this, as is Harry for harbouring him. And Molly for being a paroled criminal under Harry's protection when he harbored Morgan.** During a battle [[spoiler:one of the veteran wardens lost her head to Binder's grey men demons getting the jump on her from above]].** [[spoiler:Lara Raith]] sends the heads of the conspirators within [[spoiler:her court to the White Council]] as a peace offering.* OhCrap: Multiple times.** Harry, as a [[OncePerEpisode once per book]] gag, gets one when he hears [[spoiler: Madeline]] say that she was going to inform the White Council as to Morgan's whereabouts.** A more subtle one is when [[spoiler:Lara realizes Harry is no longer protected by Susan's Love and it was likely because of Luccio.]] Harry is very worried by her smile.** Harry is confident in his plan to trap the traitor but when [[spoiler:Wizard Rashid]] deduces the plot, he notes that if he could the traitor would most likely as well.** Harry's mentor, Ebeneezer, gets one when he figures out Harry's GambitPileup, mentioned above. He's quite stoic about it.* OldMaster: Take note of TheArchmage and DavidVsGoliath above. [=McCoy=] and the fellow Senior Council members should not be underestimated. Considering that Morgan is also one of these, the strike team of Wardens that would hunt him down is filled with a mix of this and {{Old Soldier}}s* OldSoldier:** When Morgan is sleeping in Harry's bed, Harry takes a moment to truly look over the man and sees the scars and weariness about him that never noticed before. Knowing Morgan was over a century old, he knows the man has seen a lot in the service of the Wardens.** The Strike Team brought together to hunt Morgan down are this, as not only have they survived serving in the Council, but survived since the early days of the war with the vampires.* OutGambitted: ** The Traitor Vs. Harry. [[spoiler: The traitor wins. Harry admits in the end, his plan would have to identify the traitor by watching the Way exit would have failed if not for the SpannerInTheWorks because the Traitor had a Way onto the island.]]** Harry suspects [[spoiler:the Council had this done to them in the long run because of the election of the less qualified Grigori Cristos to [=LaFortier=]'s now vacant spot over other older and wiser Wizards. Harry suspects he is a Black Council agent.]]* OutWithABang: [[spoiler: Madeline dies from a combination of this and Lara eating her innards]].* PinnedToTheWall: Thomas pins his cousin Madeline to a table with a pair of chopsticks through her wrists, because she was threatening his lover. While she's immobilized, said lover brushes Madeline with her hair--which, since the vampires are Allergic to Love, gives Madeline horrible burns.* PlausibleDeniability: While the Merlin does accept Harry's offer to help, he refuses to make it an official order or request. He cannot be seen having any influence in what evidence Harry gathers.* PoisonousPerson: ** Justine's love-empowered protection makes her this to any of House Raith, who cannot control their lust-driven hungers. ** While not as bad as Red Court blood, consuming White Court blood is an unwise thing as it apparently acts as a ''very'' potent aphrodisiac.* PreAsskickingOneLiner: [[MagicalNativeAmerican Joseph "Injun Joe" Listens-To-Wind]] gets one on the [[EldritchAbomination skinwalker]]: "Don't plan to bind or banish ya, old ghost. Just gonna kick your ass up between your ears."* PrecisionFStrike: For a man of carefully chosen words, the fact Harry gets Rashid to mutter "Blood of the Prophet" shows the craziness of his current plan.* ProdigalHero: Interestingly enough, Thomas reveals he has become this in the eyes of the White Court. He left for seeming to be weak, lazed about working as a hair designer but when the attempted coup happened in ''White Night'' he came back with a powerful strike team and fought to defend the nobles who were still alive and saved many of them. They could even think he used Harry as the bait to draw out the traitorous Vitto and Madrigal and only had to act directly when the other side broke their word. * PronounTrouble: This was the phrase Harry was looking for when he was complaining about what to call Shagnasty. Turned into a BrickJoke: during their final battle, Harry yells at it, "Bring it on, you dickless freak!"* PsychicNosebleed: Harry after Seeing the skinwalker.* {{Pun}}: Lara ''Raith'' invoked this by owning a Rolls-Royce Silver ''Wraith''.* PunchClockVillain:** Vince Graver, PI, is a normal human hired to watch Harry. [[spoiler:Once he finishes watching Harry, Harry hires him for help]].** Binder [[spoiler:willingly leaves once Harry beats him a second time but doesn't kill him]].* PunctuatedForEmphasis: After Luccio discovers that [[spoiler:Thomas is also the child of Margaret [=LaFey=], Harry states his justified fear that others would use that relationship and force Thomas to be a spy]]. Harry finishes the conversation with "Over. My. Dead. Body." * PurpleIsPowerful: Members of the Senior Council are given purple stoles to wear to signify their rank and power. * RageBreakingPoint: [[spoiler:After all the trouble Morgan caused Harry, what finally set him off, and needed Murphy to put herself between them to keep Harry from bashing Morgan's head in, was Harry coming home and finding Mouse shot and Morgan holding a gun.]]* RainDance: Joseph Listens-to-Wind does this as a weapon against [[spoiler: the skinwalker]].* RealityEnsues: When Harry's worried that the White Council is going to swoop down on them at any moment thanks to [[spoiler: Madeline's]] tip about where Morgan is hiding, Murphy points out that he has bureaucracy on his side. The tip would necessarily have to be anonymous, and the White Council likely has to deal with ''thousands'' of anonymous tips all the time; it'll probably be several hours before they even begin to establish that the information might be genuine.* ReassignedToAntarctica: When a cop, [[spoiler:Vince Graver, PI,]] once caught a councilman beating up escorts (it was how the man got off) and finds himself "volunteering" to be reassigned to SI. He quit instead of staying on.* RebelliousSpirit: [[spoiler:Margaret [=LaFey=]]] is revealed to have been one in her youth. She wasn't a year into being on the White Council before she wanted sweeping changes to the Laws of Magic to include more details on the moral uses of magic. It got so bad, with her tiptoeing towards but never crossing the Seven Laws, the Wardens were tasked with watching the person.* TheRedMage: Joseph Listens-to-Wind is both a trained fighter against a variety of forces and the Council's best healer.* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: Harry asks Murphy to look over the Warden's crime scene report on the victim and note for anything out of the ordinary. Murphy invokes this by dryly stating the victim was two hundred and seventy-nine years old. Harry corrects himself and states to look for inconsistencies.* RichInDollarsPoorInSense: When [[spoiler: Madeline Raith]] assumes Harry's fled Chicago, Binder has to spell it out that, unlike her [[spoiler: and the rest of the Raith family]] Harry doesn't have several different homes or vast amounts of excess cash, and therefore simply can't ''afford'' to flee and disappear without a trace. * RunningGag: ** Harry makes recurring references to the fact that visiting the White Council is just like going to Disneyland.** Every time Harry comes back to his apartment, he finds Morgan and Molly (and occasionally another participant) in the middle of some sort of standoff, with Mouse keeping the peace, usually by sitting on someone. [[spoiler: It's less funny the third time it happens because Mouse got hurt when Morgan tried to shoot Molly when tried to read Luccio's mind]]--->'''Harry:''' Hell's bells! What is ''wrong'' with you people!?* SacredHospitality: ** [[spoiler:When Morgan thrice caused Harry trouble in his home, Harry shames him by calling his behavior deplorable, and saying he would expect better of a literal monster who was a guest in his home.]]** When Harry arrives at [[spoiler:Lara's house with Luccio, he is asked to abide by this before entering. Harry refuses as he doesn't know what Lara has planned and doesn't want his hands tied up. Luccio is quick to point out the same restrictions on them would be on Lara and prevent her from simply killing them if she didn't want to see them.]]* SadisticChoice: In the climax Harry can [[spoiler:either leave the skinwalker with Thomas as his hostage as the skinwalker cannot reach Molly or Morgan (Demonreach's power is protecting the cottage where the two are from the Skinwalker getting close) or choose to reach the traitor and company on the island and possibly expose the whole thing. Because Thomas is family Harry chooses to save him.]]* SandInMyEyes: Harry looks away so he doesn't see [[spoiler:Murphy crying as he walked away, preparing for the final battle]].* SaveTheVillain: [[spoiler: When Lara, burned to a nice black and corpse-like figure, starts to feed on her cousin Madeline for her many crimes, not just sexually but physically eating her entrails, Harry pulled Binder away from Lara just in the event she finished with Madeline and wanted seconds. As Harry put it, he had to because it was the human thing to do]].* ScrewThisImOutOfHere:** When Harry first fights the Skinwalker, it ambushed Harry and company. When the ambush failed and it had a momententary disadvantage because it underestimated the prey, the skinwalker ran. Not in fear, just to reevaluate the attack plan.** [[spoiler:After Harry beats Binder for the last time, the criminal agrees to bow out of the rest of the fight on the island and leave]].** [[spoiler:Sensing how the tables had turned, the two warlocks on Demonreach ran back to Nevernever before they could be identified]].** [[spoiler: The skinwalker again once it realizes it can't defeat Listens-To-Winds in a stand-up fight. This time it was fleeing at least partly in fear.]]* ScyllaAndCharybdis: Harry realizes Morgan's predicament falls into this. If he is found guilty, then since he is the right hand of the Merlin, the Council faces some form of doom. If he is vindicated without someone to take his place and explain everything clearly to those angered at [[spoiler:the death of [=LaFortier=]]], then the Council faces another form of doom.* SecretKeeper: [[spoiler:Harry promises Morgan to not tell Luccio she was [=LaFortier=]'s murderer]].* SecretSecretKeeper: [[spoiler:Morgan knows Luccio killed [=LaFortier=] because he woke up in time to see it. But he also knows she was brainwashed and forced to do it but it could still cost her her life if it came out]].* {{Seers}}: [[spoiler:Rashid the Gatekeeper shows his ability to see the future and when Harry made a pact with Demonreach, he saw a significant change in the future]].* ShapeShifterShowdown: Toward the end of the book, the shape-changing Skinwalker is confronted by Wizard Listens-to-Winds, who reveals shape-changing abilities and turns into a series of North American animals to give the Skinwalker a taste of its own medicine, beginning with a bear the size of a minibus.* ShipSinking: [[spoiler:Harry and Anastasia Luccio because she was under heavy mind control sent to get close to Harry. She cannot trust her own feelings now]].* ShipTease: A Harry/Murphy one.* ShockAndAwe: Harry shows a lightning spell when [[spoiler:the skinwalker was hiding inside a metal vent]]. * {{Skinwalker}}: One of the major enemies of the book. An incredibly powerful demigod that can shift into any form it chooses, enjoys tormenting its victims, smart enough to know when it should run and wait for a better time to attack, and damn near impossible to kill. Furthering this trouble it can absorb magic, adding to its own strength, and feeds on the fear of people when people speak its name. More problems lie in that trying to ward it off is incredibly difficult. Morgan notes only a shaman from the Native American tribes of the Southwest United States, such as the Navajo and Ute tribes, would even know rituals to banish them back to where they belong. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for this skinwalker, although Senior Council member Joseph Listens-to-Wind isn't from one of those tribes, he's powerful enough and knows enough about its abilities to kick it ass anyway.]]* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: Harry calls Captain Luccio "Stacy", a diminutive of "Anastasia" he knows she ''hates,'' just to make sure she is not an impostor. She proves it by drawing her sword and gun on Harry.* SpannerInTheWorks:** Harry is a known spanner with the fortune to really toss wrenches into other people's nefarious plots. [[spoiler:For this reason, Harry and the Gatekeeper suspect Luccio was forced to get close to him to make sure he didn't end up ruining Peabody's plot]]. Read the second bullet.** Ironically, [[spoiler:Luccio was this without knowing it. Because she was a puppet to the traitor, the traitor feared his control over her was slipping when Harry's message mentioned an informant who has crucial information. This was the only reason he ended up falling into Harry's trap of watching the Way touching inner Chicago]].* SpeakOfTheDevil: Do not mention the skinwalker. There is a high chance this will just make it more powerful. Harry compensates by [[TheNicknamer renaming it]] "Shagnasty."* SpiderSense: ** Harry notes that Wizards have a certain level of this, but only in powerful cases. Something as foul, destructive, and unholy as a skinwalker gives off a lot of bad emotions. It could not sneak up on Harry without Harry's senses picking up this stew of foulness, and is confident he won't be ambushed in a dark alley. At least not by that thing. ** Wizard Listens-to-Winds is the first of the assembled [[spoiler:on Demonreach to notice Lara's backup arriving. He noticed them before Harry was able to tell with Intelectus. And the arrivals came on a far side of the island, far from view of anyone where Harry was]].* StaringDownCthulhu: Harry not only stared down a skinwalker several times over, he even saw [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm with his Sight]] and still went on to fight him. [[spoiler:Injun Joe also stares down the evil entity]].* SternTeacher: Morgan feels Harry should be this and not coddling Molly so much because if she fails her exams, a bad report card is not what she will get.* SurvivalMantra: After Seeing the Skinwalker, Harry starts recounting the sequence of prime numbers to force himself to not think about the skinwalker and suffer another painful relapse until he was someplace safe.* TakeThat: Binder has one against [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire poor, tortured, sentimental vampires]].* TenLittleMurderVictims: The traitor(s) in the White Council has been a problem for a long time; in this novel, Harry has to find them on a very strict time limit indeed.* ThatCameOutWrong: When Harry approaches the Merlin to help save Morgan by proving his innocence, as anything Merlin could discover would be viewed with distrust but as Harry was Morgan's enemy exonerating evidence would be believed, Merlin asked Harry why he should accept Harry's offer. Harry's response:--->'''Harry:''' Because your balls are in a vise and I'm the only one who can pull them out.\\''(The Merlin arches one of his silver eyebrows)''\\'''Harry:''' Okay. That came out a little more homoerotic than I intended.\\'''Merlin:''' Indeed.* ThisIsReality: When discussing guns and Harry's choice to uses a revolver over a modern automatic gun, one of his arguments is Indiana Jones uses one. Murphy replied he's fiction and they are not.* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Ebenezar's subdued reaction when he figures out that the [[spoiler:White Council, the White Court, Shagnasty, ''and'' the traitor and his own personal army are all going to be on Demonreach Island]] ''[[GambitPileup at the same time]]''.* ToAbsentFriends: The end, since they are not allowed a MeaningfulFuneral.* ToBeLawfulOrGood: [[spoiler:Morgan knew Molly used mind magic on Luccio and could be executed for breaking the terms of her parole, and Harry for failing as her parole officer. However, he keeps this violation to himself. He chooses Good to protect Harry and Molly]].* TrainingFromHell: Harry learns that Morgan's teacher (Luccio) used rocks in the shield magic exercise where Justin had used baseballs. This is compared to the fact Harry had used snowballs on Molly and noted that he wasn't doing a proper job training as pain is an effective motivator.* TranquilFury:** When Harry takes issue with the idea of leaving Morgan to die when he is innocent, [[spoiler:Listens-to-Winds enters into this mode. He knows if they save Morgan without finding the mole, the council will rip itself apart in anger and accusations. Many people will die because he, Listens-to-Winds, chose to save one man, Morgan. He made that choice one. He will not do it again]].** Lara Raith enters into a nice simmering fury when [[spoiler:Ebenezer [=McCoy=] showed her just how weak she was to him by nearly killing her with barely a thought or effort on the old man's side and Lara couldn't fight back against his power at all]].* UnderestimatingBadassery: [[spoiler:Summoner Binder]] thinks he knows about the Wardens and White Council-tier wizards and laughs at Harry and the prospect of the Death Curse. [[spoiler:Then Harry tells him he won't kill him with it, he'll bind Binder so he could never use magic again]]. The assailant suddenly realizes he didn't think this through.* UndyingLoyalty: Toot-toot has this towards Harry. [[spoiler:It is why he takes on a {{Skinwalker}} with only a box cutter.]]* UtilityMagic:** Murphy and Rawlins really do like Harry's method of tracking people with magic as they can sit back in the office, eat, drink, and watch the scrying crystal do all the work.** Later Harry uses silly string as part of a listening spell by putting it near the target and then in his ear. The vibrations the string "heard" transferred to the corresponding bit in his ear to let him listen to the conversation.* ValuesDissonance: InUniverse. When talking about his teacher, Ebenezer calls the man his "Master." Harry looks distastefully at the word, but Ebenezer defends his wording by saying it was a different time and it it didn't have the bad clout it does now.* VillainExitStageLeft: [[spoiler:The two warlocks on Demonreach knew a secret Way onto the island, thus not needing to use a boat to get there. When things were going south, they went back the same way and avoided capture.]]* VillainousGlutton: Thomas describes his cousin Madeline much like this, though without the physical gut. Madeline devours with every touch and has been like this for years. It has reached the point that she feeds with the same instinctive motions as one breaths air and cannot stop even if the "food" is poisonous. [[spoiler:This is why she could not ''stop'' feeding off a Love-protected Justine and was burned.]]* VoiceOfTheLegion: The skinwalker's voice. Harry assumes this is because it is trying to speak with many forms at once.* WeHelpTheHelpless: Lara Raith knows this of Harry. She knows the truly helpless go to him and if he must walk against demigods to help them, he will. [[spoiler:By this understanding of Harry, she guesses Morgan went to Harry for help]].* WhatTheHellHero: Morgan is less than pleased with Harry when Harry tells him [[spoiler:the Alphas tried fighting the skinwalker with Harry and it cost then one life and possibly another. They are the people Harry should be protecting not encouraging to become superheroes]].** Billy gives one to Harry after [[spoiler: Kirby's death]]. If Harry had thought to warned them or at least tell them more about the supernatural world, they would have been more prepared for the skinwalker. * WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: To evade capture Morgan [[spoiler:calls in his favor from Titania. She agrees to cloak him from magical tracking for three days.]]* WhiteMagic: This is really the only thing which can faze a skinwalker, whether it comes from [[spoiler:a Native American RainDance or [[HolyHandGrenade Soulfire]].]]* WhoWouldBeStupidEnough: The bad guys are suspecting Harry is helping Morgan. [[spoiler:When the topic of him hiding Morgan in his own home comes up, Madeline calls that a stupid idea because Hit is so obvious a move. Binder deconstructs her view by pointing out how dirt poor Harry is and wouldn't have the luxury of multiple safehouses]].* WoodlandCreatures: A crowd of wild animals gather silently to watch Harry's confrontation with the ''genius loci'' of the island. Harry suspects [[spoiler:they will kill him and rip his body apart if he fails at impressing the island]].* XanatosSpeedChess: It's the only reason Harry survived the showdown on the island, and identified the traitor. [[spoiler: Also, he got really, ''really'' lucky.]]* YouAreNotAlone: In a practical manner, Morgan tells Harry [[spoiler:he does have other Wardens to call on when dealing with something as evil and dangerous as a skinwalker]]. Harry countered that in his current situation, more Wardens would not be a smart thing for a hiding Morgan.* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: ** [[spoiler: When Morgan and Molly are about to bind Binder, he addresses her as "Ms. Carpenter." Later, when he is dying and talking with Harry, Morgan calls her "Molly"]].** [[spoiler: The one time in his life Morgan ever calls Harry "Harry", not "Dresden", is when he tells Harry to let the other Wardens arrest him rather than fight them on his behalf]].* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: Defied. The [[EldritchAbomination Naagloshii]] is a shape shifter, and even its "baseline" form is pretty nasty; but when Harry looks at it using his [[TrueSight Sight]] the overwhelming wrongness effectively [[BrownNote renders him senseless and unable to function]]. He refuses to be beaten by it and beats the memory with all the other painful memories he had. It worked and he could withstand it, however even after recovering he still stutters a bit when he recalls the image.* YouHaveGOTToBeKiddingMe: In the opening page of the book, after Morgan tells Harry he needs his help to hide from the Wardens, he collapses on Dresden's front door.-->"[[SarcasmMode Oh. Super.]]"* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: ** When Lara [[spoiler:looks over the dead and injured in her estate after Shagnasty leaves, she has three guards, who could live if given medical treatment, taken to her and her sisters' rooms to feed and help heal the injured Raith sisters. Lara justifies this as they know too much to be allowed a normal retirement package and they will be doing one final help to House Raith]].** Harry postulates [[spoiler:the Traitor is in a tight situation. First the man he murdered was likely killed because the traitor was on the verge of being discovered. Second, Morgan escaped and was hiding well. So if he or she couldn't clean up the mess, the ones the traitor works for would consider him or her a liability and remove the traitor from play]].----